In 33:12-17 we see that Moses bargained with God for His presence (His face) to go with the people He had set apart as the way for them to take. In verses 12 and 13 Moses said to the Lord, “See, You are saying to me, Bring up this people, but You have not let me know whom You will send with me; and yet You have said, I know you by name, and you have also found favor in My eyes. And now, I pray, if I have found favor in Your eyes, let me know, I pray, Your way, that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your eyes; and consider that this nation is Your people.” Although Moses did not make known his request altogether clearly in words, God understood him. In verse 14 He replied, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then Moses further said to the Lord, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. And by what shall it be known then that I have found favor in Your eyes, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, that we might be distinguished, I and Your people, from all the people which are on the face of the earth?” (vv. 15-16). Once again the Lord agreed to Moses’ request: “Even this thing which you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in My eyes, and I know you by name” (v. 17).
If we read this portion of chapter thirty-three carefully, we shall see that God’s glory is His presence, and His presence is His way. If we have God’s presence, we have His way. God’s presence is the “map” that shows us the way we should take. For example, when God called Abraham, He did not tell him exactly where to go, because God’s presence was itself His guidance of Abraham.
In 33:12-17 we see that Moses wanted God’s presence and glory. God had already been appeased by Moses, but He had made it known that He would not go with them. However, Moses was not entirely satisfied with the terms of the agreement. Hence, after he had gained a certain amount of ground with the Lord, he sought to gain more ground. He did this by asking the Lord who it was that would go with the people. Moses said to Him, “You have not let me know whom You will send with me.” Eventually the Lord agreed to Moses’ request and seemed to say, “Moses, I will give you what you want. I know that you want Me to go with you. All right, I will go.”
Still not completely satisfied, Moses went on to say to the Lord, “Show me, I pray, Your glory” (v. 18). Moses surely was experienced and knew how to negotiate with the Lord. We should learn from Moses that the proper way to pray is not to offer religious prayers. On the contrary, it is to have prayers that are an intimate conversation with God.
The Lord replied to Moses’ request by saying, “I will make all My goodness to pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of Jehovah before you; and I will show favor to whom I will show favor, and have compassion on whom I will have compassion. And He said, You cannot see My face, for no man shall see Me and live” (vv. 19-20). Here we see that the Lord’s goodness, name, favor, and compassion would be shown and proclaimed directly to Moses. However, the Lord’s face, His glory, could not be seen. Here the Lord seemed to be saying, “Moses, I can show you My goodness, My favor, and My compassion. I can also declare to you My name. But one thing I cannot do—I cannot show you My face. If you were to see My face, Moses, you would die. Therefore, for your sake, I will not let you see My face.”
According to 33:21-23 the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, there is a place with Me, and you shall stand upon the rock. And it will come about, while My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with My hand until I have passed by. And I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.” Christ is the cleft rock, the everlasting rock cleft for us. Only in the crucified Christ can we see God. I am not able to explain in full what this means. I can only speak in a general way that in the cleft Christ we can see God to some extent. According to 33:23, we can see His back, but not His face.
In these verses Moses’ bargaining with God has reached the “bottom line.” Moses could not proceed further in his negotiations with the Lord. He had received everything that he could receive. He realized from the Lord’s direct word that he could not see His face, only His back.
In this portion of the Word there are some theological problems for which there is no solution. First, in 33:2 the Lord said that He would send His angel before the people. No doubt, the angel here refers to Christ, and Christ is God Himself. As long as Christ goes with the people, this means that God goes with them. Why, then, did God say that His angel would go, but that He Himself would not go? Furthermore, why, after further bargaining by Moses, did God say that His presence would go with them? God said that both His angel and His presence would go with the people. The angel refers to Christ, and the presence actually denotes God’s face. Therefore, we have the problem of God’s angel and His presence going with the people, yet God still said that He Himself would not go with them.
Another problem is related to God’s word to Moses in verse 20 concerning seeing His face. The Lord said, “You cannot see My face, for no man shall see Me and live.” However, verse 11 says, “Jehovah would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his companion.” How can we explain this?
Furthermore, in these verses we see that God’s face is His glory, that His glory is His presence, and that His presence is His face. How are we to understand all this?
As I have indicated, I do not have the solution to these problems. I can only speak according to our limited understanding of what God is. In a sense, we can talk to God face to face. But in another sense, we cannot see God’s face. This is not a contradiction. Rather, it is a matter of degree or extent.
The principle is the same with God’s angel going with the people. For the angel of God to go with the children of Israel meant that to a certain extent God went with them. For God’s glory to go with them meant that God went with them to a further extent. In Exodus 14 we see that the angel of God is one thing and the pillar of cloud is another (v. 19). Both the angel of God and the pillar of cloud were there leading the way. It was possible, however, for the children of Israel to have one without the other. It is better, of course, to have both.
After Moses pitched his tent outside the camp, God’s glory was at the door of the tent, but it was not within the camp. This indicates that God’s presence was at the door of Moses’ tent, not in the camp. However, we should not say that God was not at all in the camp with the children of Israel. This principle applies to us today. We may say that God’s glory is not present in a situation where there is idolatry among Christians. However, we cannot say absolutely that God is not among these Christians. As we have pointed out, this is a matter of degree.
From 32:30—33:23 we learn the serious lesson that we need to know God’s heart and also be a person according to God’s heart. Then we shall have God’s presence as Moses did. Moses had God’s presence to the full extent. But the children of Israel had God’s presence in a very limited way, for they were far from God’s heart. Moses, however, was a person very near to God’s heart, a person according to His heart. This was the reason he could have God’s presence to the full extent. We all need to learn that only a person like Moses can be a companion of God. Only this kind of person can share a common interest with God and be used by God to carry out His enterprise on earth.